Archaeological excavations have begun in the Bear Cave in the Armenian Vayots Dzor Province at the initiative of the Fund for the Conservation of Wildlife and Cultural Values. The work is carried out jointly with a group from the Yeghegnadzor Geological Museum.
As a result of excavations, ceramic and stone tools from different periods have been documented, and preliminary examination of their surface shows the presence of ceramics from the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods.
It is well documented that the cave was in use much earlier than previously thought, as evidenced by several recovered tools from the Middle Stone Age (which began 280000 years ago and ended about 50-25000 years ago). During the excavations, a large number of animal bones were also discovered.
